I am happy to share our experience with the ketamine Therapy, and I hope it will be helpful to those of you considering it for your child.

When my daughter Suzie (now 9) was in preschool she had oral surgery and, after much discussion with Dr. Papolos and an anesthesiologist, the oral surgeon decided to use ketamine to sedate Suzie. Two previous sedations for ear tube surgeries and one tooth extraction had shown us that Suzie experiences paradoxical reactions to many of these meds, often derailing her mental stability, taking months to get back on track.

Well, God Bless this oral surgeon — and Dr. Papolos for deciding to try the ketamine! Not only did it work effectively for the surgery and NOT derail her stability — it actually gave us back our daughter for a few days! It was an accidental discovery. Suzie woke up from that surgery and it was as if someone had taken away her bipolar disorder. No separation anxiety, no sensory issues, increased clarity of thought and speech, affectionate, and more mature than we had ever seen. It was truly amazing. Unfortunately, it wore off after a day or too, but we made note of it for any future oral surgery, etc.

A few years later Suzie went for a sedated MRI. With a great deal of coaxing, the anesthesiologist agreed to use ketamine to sedate her. He was convinced that she might hallucinate, and experience other negative psychiatric side effects. But, once again, Suzie woke up seemingly bipolar-free — with clarity of speech and thought, affectionate, and calm-bodied.

B.L. is 25 years old, and has lived a life characterized by very high anxiety, frequent meltdowns—often with aggression, and highly oppositional behavior. He has been irritable, impatient and demanding, refusing to comply with rules and insubordinate of authority. He has always been very egocentric and seemed incapable of considering the needs of others. He…

The benefits of ketamine have been numerous and profound despite the fact that our son, Sam, has been in treatment with a combination of partially effective medications for bipolar disorder for over ten years.

Dr. Papolos received an invitation to be interviewed for a segment on NPR’s Weekend Edition on childhood bipolar disorder that will air Sunday 4/24/2016 at 9:00am. The subject is being showcased because of a recent Tedx talk given by 16 y.o Eric Walton, the son of Liza Long, who published an article, “I am Adam Lanza’s Mother” several days after the Sandy Hook killings.

The primary purpose of a consultation is a comprehensive assessment of the past and current course of illness and detailed history of treatments that would enable the development of a more effective treatment plan.